The Pittsburgh Steelers offense was hard to watch at times last season, but a CBS Sports panel sees it getting even worse.
Ranking the NFL’s top offensive triplets — a list that was dominated for years by Pittsburgh’s Killer B’s — the Steelers’ trio of Aaron Rodgers, Jaylen Warren and DK Metcalf came in at No. 27.
“The Steelers fell two spots, suggesting skepticism about Aaron Rodgers’ solid-on-paper season, in which he threw for 24 touchdowns and just seven interceptions,” Jared Dubin wrote. “Rodgers again played extremely conservative football and essentially refused to get hit, firing short, quick passes all year long.
“Jaylen Warren will split reps with Dowdle, but we kept Warren in the lead role here because he’s the more versatile player. Metcalf isn’t the best fit with Rodgers’ style of play, and he posted the second-fewest yards per game of his career last year. The Steelers were in a virtual tie with the next team on our list.”
The panel, consisting of nine analysts from CBS Sports, had the Steelers in a “virtual tie” with Jacoby Brissett, Jeremiyah Love and Trey McBride. Ouch.
The highest they placed was 20th while one analyst had them as low as 29th. It’s not exactly what the Steelers had in mind when they waited all offseason to sign Rodgers ahead of the 2025 season and gave top money to Metcalf.
Based on last year’s performance, it’s hard to argue with the standings. But if it’s about projecting future performance, I would have a hard time placing them that low.
Part of the reason the Rodgers-Metcalf connection didn’t pay off last year is because there wasn’t an equivalent threat opposite him as a No. 2 wide receiver. Teams rolled safeties in his direction and did whatever it took to make him a non-factor in the game.
Now, Mike McCarthy brings his offensive expertise to town with improved talent all over the offense. Given his track record, and with a new complement of weapons to work with, it would be an upset if the offense looks worse.
The Steelers earned their spot in the bottom third of the rankings based on last year’s results. But Pittsburgh didn’t just make a small tweak or two to its system. The franchise underwent its most significant offensive overhaul in decades, and it’s fair to expect this unit to look much different than the one that struggled a year ago.
